The confirmation hearings to make Neil Gorsuch the next Supreme Court justice are underway and Democrats have been trying — and failing — to block his nomination. So, Democrats are considering dropping the act and allowing Gorsuch to be confirmed… but they want something in return too.

Democrats want to make a deal with Republicans. They will agree not to block the Gorsuch nomination, if Republicans promise not to kill the filibuster for the next vacancy in Donald Trump’s term. It’s an odd deal to make, considering that there is very little for Republicans to lose by agreeing. Democrats worry that they will lose twice-over without the filibuster, though — first, by failing to prevent Gorsuch from being confirmed and then again by being incapable of preventing another Trump nomination to the Supreme Court. And if the next justice to leave the court is a liberal, like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, then a Trump nominee would tilt the balance of the court to conservatives.

by Sir John Hawkins

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Killing the filibuster would make the Senate a majority-rule chamber like the House… and Republicans currently hold the majority. There are Republicans eager to do just that, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not so keen — and his reasoning is rather sound.

McConnell recognizes that it is only a matter of time before Republicans become the minority again. And the filibuster is the only thing that keeps the Senate minority relevant. Democrats will, at some point, regain power in Congress. Killing the filibuster would be extremely short-sighted of Republicans. Yet some still believe that accepting this deal from Democrats would be crazy.

Mark Levin has called the proposal “nuts” and Legal Insurrection pointed out, “Gorsuch is likely to be confirmed with or without a deal, so there’s seemingly zero reason for Senate Republicans to even entertain such a deal if it was being discussed.”